22 mo diagnosed with food allergies - need some direction please

[tuscany123]

Hi, sorry to start off with a plea for help, but I need some direction. DS who is 22 mo had a skin prick test. They tested for 60 known allergens. It was awful to hold him down for 20 mins while the results same up, but I'm glad we did it because we now know some of what has been bothering him. He came up positive for peanuts, tree nuts (especially cashews), cantaloupe, oats (major bummer!!), squash, green pea and green beans. He had a blood draw to check out dairy, soy and wheat but those results are not in yet. I suspect at least an intolerance for dairy. We now carry an EpiPen Jr.

Also positive for pet dander and dust mites. Negative for the predominant grasses and weed in our area.

I am trying to educate myself on how to best feed him. I am a full-time working Mom and now more than ever hate that he is in day care where I can't monitor him full time. His caregiver knows how to use the EpiPen, I showed her. I would like to give her a one or two page instruction sheet of how to make sure he stays clear of all nuts. She feeds all the kids in her care, and she does have nuts and nut products in her home. She is caring and will do as I ask, but I would like her to have something in writing, not just my verbal instructions.

Is there a website you could recommend that would help me get educated, and that I could share with her too? I would really appreciate it. This thing scares me to death, and when I google it I just get all turned around.

Thank you in advance - Tuscany

[sbgrace]

It's overwhelming at first. Cashew is a really scary one (it's my son's big one too). Make sure on follow up testing they run sesame as it crosses with cashew and majorly changes things if it's also an allergy (it isn't always, was he positive to pistachio?)

I hate to say this but honestly I would be really, really uncomfortable with my child in a day care situation where others (especially kids) were consuming nuts. It's just too risky in my opinion (that's why many schools are nut free and if a child has a nut allergy generally classrooms are nut free zones at the least). I just don't think it's safe at all. Do you think she'd be willing to get rid of nuts in her home?

We're dealing with some different restrictions because of our sesame thing and I've had to make everything from scratch because of that. If he's wheat allergic too (if you find that) please contact me because wheat and nut free is tricky--most wheat free things are nut cross contaminated. I've found safe stuff so contact me. Most things I use have to be ordered. For now Enjoy Life foods are a good source for your son's foods. They have a cereal called Crunchy Rice that will be safe for him. Berlin Bakery Spelt bread will be safe for him (assuming he's not spelt allergic or celiac as it does contain gluten). This bread is safe even with sesame allergy and until you know about sesame I'd be careful given the cashew. If you can join Kids with Food Allergies forum that will be helpful. People can direct you to safe for him stuff. I can too but we're more limited and I don't want to put that limit on you unnecessarily. I think one of the major cereal companies labels for nut cross contamination for example but it didn't matter for us because of our other allergies.
You do have to watch oils. Bionature is a safe olive oil. Purity farm Ghee is safe if he handles that (my son did with a dairy allergy but not everyone does). I'm pretty sure there is a safe Canola mentioned on that allergy forum. Tropical Traditions is the only safe coconut oil.

What to feed him--what does he eat now? You can likely find or make subs for most of it. How the other allergy tests come out is going to affect how easy or difficult that is going to be. But you'll figure it out in time. The start is the most overwhelming. Did the allergist tell you that there is a 50% false positive rate with allergy testing? So if you get a positive and you've never seen a reaction it might not be a true allergy.

[kjbrown92]

My DD2's preschool is nut free because one child is allergic to nuts (all classes are nut free because of it). Just because residue from one child's hands can get on a toy, toy goes in mouth, bingo.

What kind of symptoms was he having? Obviously he was having issues or you wouldn't have had him tested. I'm just curious. Had he been exposed to nuts before?

Did they give you the primer on dustmites... to encase the pillow and mattress with a dustmite barrier? All bedding should be washable in warm water. Shades are better than miniblinds or heavy drapes. All stuffed animals should be removed from the room (if you do need to leave one, you can put it in the freezer for a few hours and it will kill all the dustmites, or if you can put it in the dryer on high for 2 cycles to kill them). Closet doors should be kept shut. Vacuum should have a HEPA filter (sometims a HEPA filter should be used in the bedroom as well). Wood/tile floors are better than rugs. Etc. All those things helped my DD1 alot after she got the dustmite diagnosis.

If oats are bad, we do millet porridge and hot buckwheat cereal. Cream of rice is another good hot cereal.

[sbgrace]

I forgot some things.
On the dust mites--our allergist said to wash all bedding on hot and dry on hot at least every two weeks (I've read one week as well). You can encase mattresses and pillows in dust mite proof casings. We do a Hepa air filter in his room too and keep the door closed. He always showers (or bath) before bed so he's not taking allergens to bed with him. We re-homed our cat.

If I remember right cantaloupe cross reacts (in some people, allergy more likely with) with banana and watermelon and I think maybe avocado. My son is only allergic to cantaloupe.
Cashew cross reacts with pistachio, sesame, and mango. My son is allergic to all those. Not everyone is but those are suspects given your son's cashew allergy.

Caleb eats hot buckwheat cereal (Birkett Mill is nut safe buckwheat source) and hot teff as a cereal (the Teff Company is nut safe, I couldn't find a safe from nut millet in reasonable quantity).